Teammates
by relaxovision
Summary: Brittana, Faberry and the gang as fierce warriors, mages, guards and more! Through fights and tears and blood and love, only friendship is a constant.
1. Introductions

**After my last fic dealt with alot of teenage coming- out angst, I felt like writing something a little bit lighter, fluffy if you will.**

**It's been a couple of years since I played Final Fantasy VIII, so don't expect this to be very accurate. **

**I might have to travel back in time to apologize to my 17 year old self for this. You think Edea might help me?**

**Music: Overture - FF VIII ;)**

* * *

><p>"Attention students of Balamb Garden!"<p>

Principal Cid's voice rang loudly through the halls of their flying home and Santana abruptly sat up straight in her bed. It was time.

"The results of this year's Seed tests are out! Check the message board to see if you made it on the list. Remember that all students whose name will be displayed will receive a Guardian Force during next week's practice. I repeat: the results of this year's Seed test can be found on the message boards now! Good Luck."

The Latina hated to be rated. Last year hadn't gone so well and she was definitely sick of training and theory. She was more than ready to slash some real creatures and earn some cash.

"What's up? What did Principal Cid say?" A yawning Brittany tugged eagerly on Santana's top from behind. Santana sighed in frustration as she tried to stretch her arms and felt her neck hurt. The bed was small enough. She seriously wondered why she would let Brittany stay over night after night, just because the blonde pouted. Well, ok, there she had her answer: the blonde pouted. Without turning around to face the girl lying next to her she stated:

"Evaluations are out. Get dressed."

* * *

><p>"San, I'm so nervous. What if I failed?"<p>

As they were walking along the halls more and more students came practically running out their dorm rooms. Some even hadn't bothered to get dressed properly. Especially some of the boys apparently thought that shorts were an appropriate outfit for this special occasion. Santana decided she looked awesome in her black tight uniform, including heavy black boots. It was chaste, it was designed to fit her perfectly, it made her look dangerous, it was perfect. The only hint of color on her was a red brooch on the left side of her leather jacket: A dragon. Brittany had given it to her for her last birthday and despite the fact that Santana hated birthdays and gifts, she liked the dragon. It was a symbol of strength; also it was a gift from Brittany.

"It's not about failing, Britt. It's just about being hired."

It escaped her how this friendship had come into existence. The girly, normally chirpy blonde was the direct opposite of Santana: dreamy, lively, goofy, cute, kind to everyone; not someone Santana would normally hang out with (not that Santana used to hang out with anyone, but still, hypothetically). All of a sudden, Brittany had just been there. And now she just was there and for a reason, which also escaped the Latina, that was exactly where Santana wanted her to be.

The blonde clutched Santana's left arm and whined:

"But Saaaan, I need a job and I need to start training with my G.F.! You know how important that is to me!"

It was, in fact, equally important to both of them. If the teachers didn't think you were ready for a G.F. you couldn't be assigned to a team. If you weren't assigned to a team then you wouldn't be hired for jobs. If you weren't hired for jobs you were of no value to the Garden. If you were of no value to the Garden, well, then you were out. Out as in 'homeless'.

"I'm sure you did well, Britt." Santana commented absent mindedly. She could make out Puck and Quinn a few meters ahead. Unlike Santana the two had joined the Garden voluntarily just a year ago. It bothered her quite a lot that they, especially Quinn, had already made it this far.

As they approached the end of the corridor she dragged Brittany by her hand through the crowd that had already formed. She wanted to be closer to the digital message board when their results would be displayed.

She only had to ram her elbow into approximately five rib cages, stomp on only about seven feet and curse at only about three people for accidentally bumping into Brittany before they reached Puck.

"Hey Puckerman, care to make some space for us?" she yelled over.

The tall guy had his eyes fixed on the monitor, but waved at them, roughly shoving two other guys to the side so Santana and Brittany could stand next to him.

"If my name doesn't appear on there I'm screwed." Some random student had vocalized what many of them were thinking.

Then the halls fell silent as the first name appeared on the screen:

**_Rachel Berry:_**

_Age: 17_

_Class: White Mage/ Spellsinger_

_Weapon: Spells_

_GF: Siren (has the skill to silence others)_

_Low Strength_

_Low Defense_

_High Agility_

_High Intelligence_

_Profile: _

_Has a tendency to talk too much, which often gets her into fights with her classmates. She's one of the kindest people you'll ever meet, though, and will do almost everything to keep the team together._

_Rachel is extremely fast and just as weak. She doesn't have any attacking skills, but focuses exclusively on support and healing spells instead, providing the group with shields, antidotes and other medical help. What makes her unique in comparison to other mages is that Rachel's voice uses a frequency that transports her spells over such a high distance she doesn't even need to be in the battle for her magic to work. No matter where she is, she will be heard. If you decide to send her in, though, make sure to place a guard in front of her._

* * *

><p>A girly voice shrieked and then cheered. Everyone else stayed silent.<p>

"Yea, congrats on being extraordinary loud." Santana grunted. But there wasn't any time for real insults.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Noah Puckerman:<em>**

_Age: 18_

_Class: Berserker_

_Weapon: Fists/ Knuckles_

_GF: Cerberus_

_High Strength_

_Medium Defense_

_Medium Agility_

_Low Intelligence_

_Profile:_

_This boy is made of win. He has a bad temper, but a kind heart. Protecting others comes naturally to him, but you should never ever lend him your belongings. You will never get them back._

_Puck doesn't rely on weapons, but prefers close up fights instead. He's super strong and usually doesn't care to dodge attacks. He simply counters every blow._

* * *

><p>"Freaking hell! YES!" Puck shouted and turned to high five Santana, just to be shut down with an angry glare.<p>

"Forget it, punk, not as long as Britts and I aren't safe."

He nodded and shut it.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Finn Hudson:<em>**

_Age: 18_

_Class: Guard_

_Weapon: Axe_

_GF: Ifrit (Fire demon)_

_High Strength_

_High Defense_

_Low Agility_

_Low Intelligence_

_Profile:_

_Like any typical guard, Finn's tall and extremely strong. He can withstand almost any blow and shake off almost any strike that hits him. He is, however, not very intelligent and extremely slow, which makes him weak against magic attacks and for at least two girls in Balamb._

_In battle, always send him out as a shield for a mage or a healer. That way they can benefit from each other by compensating each other's weaknesses._

* * *

><p>A brunette giant approached from behind with a smirk on his face. He and Puck fist bumped and Santana was about to vomit.<p>

"Yea, good luck on your cheesy love triangle, loser." she hissed through clenched teeth. Then she felt Brittany's grip on her arm tighten and focused back on the screen.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Brittany S. Pierce: <em>**

_Age: 17_

_Class: Thief_

_Weapon: Grenades _

_GF: Carbuncle (Summons barrier against physical and magical damage)_

_High strength_

_Low defense_

_High agility_

_Low intelligence_

_Profile:_

_Not the brightest bulb, but extremely fast. _

_Brittany might not pass her classes with flying colors, but she's talented when working with her hands. Never try and explain to her anything that sounds like physics (nor any other science), but throw her a couple of random items and she'll definitely put them together to build some sort of deadly yet easy to throw weapon._

_She has very low defense and once wounded you can most certainly consider her out of the battle. Fortunately for her she can dodge almost anything._

* * *

><p>"Yay, Brittany!" Santana heard herself shout as she hugged the blonde bundle to her side tightly, before remembering herself. "Congrats, Britt. I told you, you could do it!" Quickly looking around if anyone had witnessed her emotional outburst she symbolically straightened her uniform.<p>

Then she saw Brittany's face, which was everything but cheery. There were actually tears threatening to spill over. "Britt, what's up?" She couldn't believe her eyes.

"I couldn't read so fast." the blonde almost whispered. "Did I do good?"

"Oh my god, yes, yes, you did amazing." Brittany's face lit up to a radiant smile and Santana almost forgot that her name hadn't been listed, yet.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Quinn Fabray:<em>**

_Age: 18_

_Class: Black Mage_

_Weapon: Spells_

_GF: Shiva (Freezes the enemy)_

_Low strength_

_Medium defense_

_Medium agility_

_High intelligence_

_Profile:_

_A fast learner, but tends to over-think situations._

_Quinn's physical strength is almost non-existent. Of course, she doesn't depend on that. Instead she likes to weaken her enemies by poisoning them, or by simply draining their stamina, just to strike with thunderbolts, blizzards or earthquakes afterwards. She plays fair and is usually a laid back character. Just make sure not to upset her; highly intelligent._

_She comes across as pessimistic, but should be listened to nonetheless. Her advice is almost never a bad one._

* * *

><p>Santana's palms became sweaty as she glanced over to where Quinn was standing. The short haired blonde didn't cheer, she didn't even say anything. Her eyes were still trained on the screen and there was a calm satisfied small smile on her face. She wasn't to be underestimated.<p>

"I'm sure your name will be next." Brittany told Santana despite the fact that she wasn't paying attention. "You are always so good in all the courses and you are smart and that's why I love you and you are super strong and fast, too and…"

* * *

><p><strong><em>Santana Lopez: <em>**

_Age: 17_

_Class: Warrior_

_Weapon: Gunblade_

_GF: Bahamut (pure destruction by Mega - Flare)_

_Medium strength_

_Medium defense_

_Medium agility_

_Medium intelligence_

_Profile:_

_Skilled fighter; tends to overreact and has a weakness for a certain blonde. _

_When challenged, Santana's stubborn temper comes in handy as she seems to be able to overcome almost all obstacles with sheer willpower. This fact easily compensates for her rather mediocore stats. Never get in this girl's way. She has goals. She intends to achieve them. And she is used to getting what she wants. Don't underestimate her. She's as fierce and as dangerous as she looks. Santana definitely has lead-potential once she manages to pull herself together._

* * *

><p>"Seeeeeeeeeee?" Brittany beamed and hugged the Latina so tight she thought her bones would break and crush her organs.<p>

Santana squinted her eyes. She didn't see that she made it. She didn't see that this was her ticket to her new future. All she saw were critical statements:

"Stubborn? Mediocore? What the hell are they talking about? Over-reacting? I'm going to go all Lima…" She was stopped by another statement that caught her attention: "Lead potential. Now that is interesting. Huh."

She eventually high- fived Puck, sent a last vicious glare over to where she thought Quinn was standing and stormed off, a now very happy Brittany still attached to her arm. She didn't care about anyone else who might have made it on the list.

"Lead potential, huh." She repeated as they were making their way back to her room. That was something she could definitely work with.

* * *

><p>"Do you know what that sentence meant?"<p>

Drawn out of her daydream of lead potential into a conversation with her friend, Santana could not even guess what Brittany was talking about.

"What sentence?"

Brittany was fumbling with one corner of a pillow she was hugging. Was she nervous?

"That you have a weakness for 'a certain blonde'. I mean do you know who that is?"

Santana kept her eyes from popping open as if someone had kicked open the bathroom door and gulped. Yea, the message board had indeed said something like that. Brittany wasn't a fast reader, but she was absolutely capable of filtering out important information (well, important for her, that is). Damnation.

"Uh…oh…" she stuttered and felt her face turn crimson.

"It's ok if you like Quinn, you know. She's cool." Brittany didn't stop fumbling with her pillow.

"NO!" At least Santana had a definite response to that suggestion. "No I don't like Quinn. Britt, seriously I have no idea what that sentence meant."

"Oh." the blonde who was indeed Santana's weakness patted the space on the mattress next to her.

As Santana lay down and lifted her arm so Brittany could curl into her side she resumed thinking about how awesome it would be to one day lead her own team, or maybe even teach a class, or perhaps become principal. Slowly she began drifting off into a dreamless sleep. There was now something else echoing in her head, though; something she hadn't even noticed when Brittany had said it just half an hour ago:

"…and that's why I love you…"

* * *

><p><strong>I have no clue how long any future chapter will be, but I totally have a few more scenarios in my head. Just because I can. Also, the format options here are a pain!<strong>


	2. Cards

**Writing this chapter I learned a few things about myself:**

**1. I am not a genius.**

**2. I am not able to just cough out another chapter every few days like I thought I could (hence 1.).**

**3. It's really hard to keep it light and fluffy when you write from the perspective of someone sitting in a wheelchair.**

**4. There's a thin line between imagination and pure projection.**

**Music: Shuffle or Boogie ;)**

* * *

><p>The cafeteria was usually empty at this time of the day and Artie enjoyed the silence. The library being his only other realistic option noise- wise was out of question for one simple reason:<p>

The cadets would never let him occupy a single spot there. Especially Quinn and Rachel, who seemed to get up extra early every morning in order to scratch at the entrance doors before they would open up, just loved to stare him down until he left.

Not to mention Santana. Despite the fact that the grumpy Latina never actually came to the library to study there, she'd always hog the seat next to Brittany and pretend to be important to everyone present. She'd always make sure only people she considered "worthy" got the opportunity to speak to her blonde friend.

Artie couldn't help but think her true intention wasn't just to keep Brittany safe from all distractions so she could study in peace. Although, thinking about it, that would surely have been reason enough to bark everyone away. Brittany definitely needed as much peace and quiet as she could get if she was going to achieve anything.

Due to his handicap he wasn't allowed to apply to become a SeeD. Wheelchairs and wilderness don't go well together.

He had seen the profiles the Garden made up for their cadets and couldn't help but feel a little jealous. The stats they had been provided with were not only good information for them but also worked as an advertisement for future customers. Based on these profiles those in charge could decide who'd be best for the job: Do I need someone who's strong or someone who's agile? Do I want someone who can make quick decisions or am I able to give them orders throughout the battle?

Artie's profile on the other hand would more or less read something like this:

* * *

><p><em>Non existing Strength<em>

_The Defense of a leaf in the wind_

_Wheelchair Agility_

_High Intelligence_

_Artie is not able to walk and no one knows his name or even talks to him. He spends his time behind computers and books when he's working. In his free time he challenges people for a nerdy match of Triple Triad and his greatest achievement so far is to get his hands on a set of character cards, namely Squall, Quistis and Xell. Low self- esteem._

* * *

><p>Yea, no one would ever play a victory fanfare for him.<p>

Although technical prodigies like him were just as important for the Garden, he would never enjoy the same prestige as the cadets. They were the ones slaughtering Morbols and Cockatrices, risking their lives to keep people safe and providing the Garden with an income. All he did was gathering information, repairing equipment and keeping cadets up to date. The public would never even get to see his face.

So here he was, sitting in the deserted cafeteria while most of his peers were attending some class. Sometimes Mercedes would pop in to score some tater tots, which were always sold out during the regular lunch breaks (just like hot dogs those were extremely popular among the students and teachers alike). Mostly, he was undisturbed, though, which gave him the opportunity to invest some time in his favourite hobby: Triple Triad.

During the time he had spent in Balamb, Artie's collection had become quite large and he was the proud owner of a couple of really rare cards. But there were a few he still needed to get his hands on and their current owners wouldn't just give them to him without a really tough battle. If he wanted to win he had to come up with the perfect strategy.

Displaying his strongest cards in front of him he tried out several combinations.

He had to choose five cards for each game.

Option one was to play the corners. Maybe Secreto, Minotaur, Glashalablas and… no, there was one card for the bottom right corner missing. Also this strategy left no room for a plan B should his opponent foresee his intention. The safe route wasn't so safe afterall.

Maybe go for a little more attack instead?

Squall had only one weak spot and Kiros was an overall strong card. Combined with Ward and….

Artie flinched and almost let his cards fall when the school's intercom crackled.

"Attention, SeeDs! The Guardian Force teams have been chosen. Please gather in the schoolyard to receive your assignments. I repeat: Guardian Force teams have been chosen. All fresh SeeDs please gather in the schoolyard."

Great. Not only was he once again reminded of the fact that he wasn't one of the popular guys here; considering the schoolyard lay directly behind the cafeteria there would also be a crowd of students passing through very soon. So that was it with enjoying silence and making up strategies.

He thought about wheeling out for a second, but knew there wasn't enough time left. His choices were either to stay and endure the embarrassment of not being part of the team or to try and squeeze himself through a crowd of hurried oncoming students on their way through. Sighing to himself Artie settled for the first option, carefully picking up the stacks of cards he had arranged on the table in front of him and putting them in his collector's case.

Soon he realized that he had made the right decision. Not even half a minute later there were the first few students rushing through, almost tripping over each other out of excitement. Rachel actually jumped over a few chairs before finally stepping on one, just to run over a table and overtake Mike who had led the crowd up until then. Could she possibly show any more enthusiasm? Artie didn't think so. Being small like her and therefore being a lightweight apparently had its advantages.

There was a whole bunch of students Artie didn't know by name and somewhere in the middle he spotted Finn whose head towered above everyone else's. He was hard to overlook.

In the back there were a couple more familiar faces, though:

Puck lead the small group of cadet's with an unhurried but speedy step. He passed Artie's table by but ignored his existence completely (probably on purpose). Then in a single file followed Santana and Quinn (the first demonstratively, the second genuinely oblivious) looking into a different direction… and at the end of the line there was Brittany, who showed a bright smile and waved frantically at Artie. He couldn't decide whether the situation was too bizarre to smile back at her or if he should maybe turn around to check if she really meant someone else behind him.

But Brittany stopped and over excitedly started to blabber:

"Hi. We're going to get our G.F.s. I already know which one it is, but I'm still so nervous."

Artie opened his mouth to say something (although he wasn't exactly sure what), but there was already an angry Latina grabbing Brittany's hand and pulling her away from the table.

"What the hell, Britt?" she set her friend straight while trying to catch up with the others.

Brittany obviously didn't mind. She didn't try to get away, but she turned her head once more and yelled back: "Bye, Artie."

And then Artie almost died, because Brittany knew his name.

Maybe there was a tiny chance his existence would someday be acknowledged after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: There's not going to be any Bartie in this story.<strong>

**I'm working on several more chapters now. Next one will probably be from Brittany's perspective *yikes***

PS:

The "ALL"- rule has been established in this region

*restarts playstation*


	3. Calm before the storm

Brittany wasn't sure why she had been teamed up with Quinn and Rachel for this mission. She was used to not being able to understand other people's intentions, but even for her this choice seemed odd. Two magic users and a thief? That made three people with low or medium defense. She just hoped whatever creature they would have to fight wouldn't be a physical attacker.

Also, Santana wasn't here and the absence of her best friend did nothing to ease Brittany's nerves. She had, however, promised her to help Rachel retrieve her Guardian Force and make Santana proud.

Remembering the face Santana had pulled at her promise Brittany couldn't help but smile. Her friend always pretended she didn't care about anyone; that she was better off on her own and that everyone else was just a hindrance at best and a competition slash enemy at worst.

Brittany wasn't fooled by a pair of furrowed eyebrows, though. For her reading Santana was as easy as it was hard to read anyone else. She understood that Santana liked being challenged, because challenges were what kept her going. She loved to hate others and she only hated others, because she really loved them.

She loved how Rachel could sing her wounds away and admired how she'd keep going no matter how many attacks were fired at her. Even if Santana would use her most cruel insults, even if she tried to slash her into pieces, even if Rachel would never have friends, no one could ever destroy her. Brittany knew that Santana knew that. She would probably never admit it, but if she had been able to choose her teammates, Rachel would have been a candidate.

And Quinn? She was definitely Santana's greatest competition. Despite the fact that she was only one year older than the others, Quinn seemed to be decades ahead of them.

Just like Santana she was a born leader, but unlike the Latina she was more of a calm temper. Every step she made was well-thought-out. Where Santana appeared like Hercules trying to break walls with nothing more than her sword and her skull, Quinn used her wits to find the Achilles in each person before attacking. She never risked anything if she didn't know there was a realistic chance to win.

Not that Santana was any stupid, the opposite was really the case. She simply lacked of self- control. And she knew it. And she loved Quinn for exactly that ability, even though she'd never say it out loud.

Brittany, on the other hand, would definitely have picked Finn over Rachel. The brunette's healing powers were pure gold, but at the end of the day of no use if the enemy turned out to be a quick physical attacker. They'd be dead in no time.

"Do you have your scanner, B?" Quinn snapped her out of her thoughts and looked at Brittany with what could be described as something between confidence, ferocity and eagerness. She was more than ready to go in and her eyes flashed green behind dark lashes as Brittany answered with a simple nod.

Of course she had brought it. She wanted to make Santana proud. She couldn't mess up.

"I really hope there is a bigger purpose behind the choice of our outfits and equipment we're provided with, because 'sand' is absolutely not my color."

Quinn shot Rachel an annoyed glare which said more than words could have. Rachel understood and resumed staring at the gates in front of the trio.

They had indeed been all dressed up in light brown outfits. Whilst Rachel sported baggy trousers and a short tight tank top, which made her look like a djinn, Quinn was wearing a plain pinafore dress. Although it seemed impossible, the short haired blonde maintained to appear very classy, even in such a simple piece of cloth.

Brittany envied the two a little. They had been provided with proper clothes and she, well, she was basically wrapped in a whole lot of bandages that covered all the important parts, but only very little more than that. Shifting uncertainly she made sure once again everything was held in place. It was.

Said bandages were actually replacing their shoes as they were carefully draped around the soft middles of their feet and their ankles for halt, leaving their toes and heels unprotected. Whatever it was they were about to face, Brittany was sure quickness would be the key to win.

They all three had also been given wide dark green belts with a little brown bag hanging off the side. Those contained a bottle of water and some basic equipment. In Brittany's case there was a small knife, Carbuncle's ruby, her scanner and a couple of self-made grenades to be found.

"I imagine it to be wonderful to finally have a G.F." Rachel mused. "Brittany, you are so lucky you already have yours."

Then she realized what she had said and her gentle smile was replaced by wide eyes and an embarrassed flush on her cheeks as she turned her head away from the two blondes. Quinn shot a quick glance over to Brittany but didn't say anything.

They were well aware of what the word "lucky" meant for their teammate.

* * *

><p><em>It had been the shortest expedition in the history of the Garden. Brittany and Santana had been sent out to retrieve Carbuncle, but instead of a long exhausting epic battle with their lives on stake it had turned out to be more of a short field trip. <em>

_The two friends had barely entered the thick brushwood of the forest they had been sent into when Brittany had gotten hungry. "You can't be serious, Britt." Santana had rolled her eyes and shook her head when Brittany simply pulled out a carrot and noted: "Why?"_

_She sat down on a little rock as the Latina's eyes kept searching the nearby area. "Britt, make it quick. We can't waste much t…" _

"_Saaaaaan, look at this!"_

_And when Santana did look she could see an overly excited Brittany feeding Carbuncle with her carrot. _

_That was it. Instant friendship._

_When the two emerged from the arena only twenty minutes after they had left and Brittany beamed and showed around the ruby she had received - a device to help her summon her G.F. - not everyone had been happy for her. One jealous student had huffed something that sounded remarkably like: "Dumb luck". _

_Just as Brittany felt tears threatening to spill over her eyes caught a raging Santana next to her. Her hand was already gripping her gunblade and the break in her lips indicated trouble. _

"_San, don't."_

_So instead the Latina had yelled some vicious vicious words at the culprit before hugging her tight._

"_I'm so proud of you."_

* * *

><p>"What are you smiling at, Britt? Stay focused!" Quinn again.<p>

"I look like a mummy."

Rachel giggled. "Well, actually you remind me of a potato root. I for one look more like a tree, especially with my green headband here." She pointed at her hair.

"I like headbands." Brittany shrugged. Whatever the feud between Quinn and Rachel was, Brittany liked them both equally.

Even Quinn couldn't help but grin now. "Well, what do I look like then?" She expectantly raised an eyebrow and spun around once to let the lower hem of her dress fly.

"You look like a flower." Brittany commented.

"But you always look like a flower anyway."

Both blondes turned their heads to Rachel's remark. Quinn furrowed her eyebrows, but when Brittany just nodded in agreement all insults were forgotten.

"Well", Quinn stated, "for our own sake I sure hope I look like a vicious flower. One of the carnivore kind."

With that all three lost it and broke out in giggles.

Their laughter only died down when the arena doors finally squeaked open.

* * *

><p><strong>Are you ready for the battle? I am.<strong>

**I noticed that there is not one other Final Fantasy/ Glee crossover out in the world wide web. I'm a HUGE Final Fantasy fan so if you have suggestions or a wish what you want to have included, shoot me a pm or simply comment here. I really want to do the genre justice.**

**That being said, I have ideas for at least 7 more scenarios and the FF universe is so full of possibilities. I don't think this is going to end very soon. Stay tuned!**


	4. Into the storm part 1

**A/N:** Wow, it's been a while. I got a little sidetracked with a collection of love letters I wrote for lizzylizbian's Unconventional Assistance (it's called "Dear Brittany").

And then my computer died and took this chapter with it into its grave.

This is only part one of the battle.

* * *

><p>"Rachel, can you see anything?"<p>

"I'm just as blind as you are, Quinn."

Brittany heard the two shout to each other, but the sandstorm didn't allow her to see further than a few inches. She couldn't even make out her hands right in front of her eyes. When she heard the her friendsg to cough she yelled:

"We have to take shelter somewhere. Quinn, can you clear a path for us?"

With sand soaring her eyes and heavy wind pulling at her hair and whipping it in her face she could only guess Quinn's location. Brittany's assumption was confirmed when a strong hand grabbed her right arm.

"I think so. Can you hold onto Rachel? We cannot get separated in here!"

Stretching out her free hand Brittany searched the sandy curtains behind her. A few seconds later a soft palm found hers.

"I should have known these would come in handy. Pass one over to Quinn."

Two patches of stiff fabric were stuffed into her hand and Brittany was relieved to find out she was indeed holding dust masks, the simple kind. Not a huge help considering her eyes were already burning from millions of grains of sand shooting right through her lashes, but definitely better than having no protection at all. Breathing became immediately easier.

"You don't happen to have goggles with you, do you?" It was worth a try.

Two hands were now clasping her waist from behind and Brittany could sense Rachel's anxiety. They had to move and they had to move fast.

"Sorry. That's all."

Reaching out with both her hands into the brown blur before her she felt Quinn's dress and held on to it. The scenario would surely have been embarrassing if anyone would have been able to see them, holding onto each other as if they were about to start a polonaise.

"Quinn, now would be a good time to…"

An immense pain shot through Brittany's rib cage and cut her off as she found herself struggling to regain some of the air that had just been forced out of her lungs. She knew something had hit her when her feet failed to find contact to the ground beneath her and she lost orientation completely.

She could barely hear Rachel scream and it was impossible to guess how far she had been flung across the arena with her limbs helplessly flailing through the air.

Her body hit the ground right before her head and the last thing she felt was the heat from the rough sand emerizing her skin.

Her last thought was a simple "No.".

* * *

><p>"What the hell is going on?"<p>

The shrieking alarm and wildly flickering lights on every engine made it almost impossible to focus. Artie was barely aware of principal Cid grabbing the back of his wheelchair when the Garden's bridge shook heavily.

"Unconfirmed, sir!"

As of now only one thing was certain: Something had happened. Something that made all computers on board go crazy.

"Artie! What the hell is going on?"

Cid wasn't usually one to raise his voice. His slightly chubby figure and gentle features in his face made it hard to believe he could be a man of authority. Yet he was. And right this moment Artie understood why no one ever dared to question his decisions.

"Sir, we're under attack!" The pilot had shouted this.

"Another Garden?"

It was exactly then when all screens in front of Artie went black and his eyes went wide in shock. In what he could only describe as a hilariously desperate attempt to wake the computer back up he slammed both his fists on the console. A few lights flickered briefly as if to mock him, just to die down simultaneously with his hopes of ever being assigned to another job on the bridge.

It was his first day here and his first real job. A sudden headache made his head swell and the pulse in his temples topped every other noise. Nervously he ran both his hands through his hair and over his face before declaring: "Whatever attacked us, it successfully destroyed the power supply to our board computer. All scanners are off. And…" He gulped.

Principal Cid frowned. "What, 'and'?"

"And… this computer also controlled the arenas. All doors are slammed, our SeeDs are trapped. The weather control system, fiend summoning… even the program I wrote to enable an emergency stop… it's all gone and I have no idea why our two standby sets won't work."

Cid stood there with his lips pressed tightly together, gritting his teeth, for what seemed like an eternity. When he finally opened his mouth Artie was confident it was only to consume his sorry ass. Fortunately the pilot interrupted the scene:

"I have a message coming in, sir! No visual display, though."

Turning away from the boy who was still half expecting to be wheeled off the bridge through the next open window, Cid commanded:

"Turn off the alarm. And get a line open."

Three engineers had already stormed the deck and went to work on the engines. Together with the alarm all yelling stopped and everyone on the bridge was now staring silently into the empty space, waiting for the intercom to crackle.

When it did a female voice became audible.

"Hello?... is this… no, DAMMIT SANDY, GET OFF ME NOW!"

Crickets. Confused expressions were exchanged and eyebrows were furrowed. Then the intercom started once again:

"Well, hello Cid. It's been a while."

The principle lowered his face and buried his forehead in his right hand.

"Terri! I should have known it's you."

* * *

><p>Muffled voices.<p>

Blurry shadows.

Air.

What had happened?

Slowly Brittany's eyes fluttered open. She could hear Rachel shouting somewhere in the distance. The storm hadn't calmed down one bit and made it that much harder to move her legs, let alone stand up.

Struggling to keep her eyes open, she reached up in an unavailing attempt to clear her vision by rubbing her eyes. She tried to breath, but sand and a stitching pain to her left side stopped her from sucking in much of the well needed oxygen. Thankfully at least her mask hadn't been ripped off.

Blue and yellow rays of light shot through the storm and just for a second she saw Quinn, arms spread in a V above her head, thunderbolts emerging from her fingers, blonde hair whipping wildly into all directions.

It was a picture Brittany could use to regain some sense of orientation and she guessed she had been thrown at least 150 meters across the arena. Finally coming to she pushed her hands into the ground, effectively lifting her upper body off and getting back on her two feet.

Her hearing had definitely been impaired and as she tried to walk a few steps a hot pain shot from her right ankle through her leg and made her tumble. With her face soar from grains of sand, the left side of her rib cage aching where she had been hit and her ankle stinging, Brittany had exactly one thought: She needed to find shelter, now.

The sky was lit a second time. This time Brittany could see Quinn in flames, fiery lambencies shooting at something in front of her. The image only lasted a few seconds and her fiend remained invisible. It had, however, been long enough for Brittany to get an impression of her surroundings:

The vast majority of their arena was covered in sand, but there were large rocks spread around on the ground. Especially one not far to her right had caught her attention. It would make a great shield. To both her sides, maybe 300 meters away, there were stone walls framing their battle ground. This was without a doubt a valley or a canyon.

Right as she was about to head for the rock she had spotted something large hit her and she was forced into the sand below her yet again. "Ugh." The pain from her wounds almost made her lose consciousness a second time.

"Isolation!"

Within a radius of three meters all sand abruptly fell to the ground and allowed Brittany to inhale deeply a few times. The body lying on top of her suddenly didn't bother her as much anymore.

"Sorry."

Rachel quickly climbed off of Brittany, who started another attempt to clean her eyes just to give it up when she realized she was only rubbing more sand from her hands in.

"Are you hurt?"

"No, but you are!" Rachel's eyes went wide as she took a closer look at Brittany, who only now noticed she was bleeding. Three parallel deep scratch marks adorned her side and there was a fair amount of blood running down from each of them. Before she could panic or even let her brain comprehend the impact of her injury, Rachel was reaching out.

"Here, let me take care of that."

Brittany hissed as the spellsinger carefully placed her hand on the wound and began to hum a soft tune, but the pain only lasted a second.

The melody seemed familiar, but not in the way that Brittany could have recognized a song and sing along. More in the way that tugged at something deep inside her, made her feel warm and safe.

It reminded her of this one time at practice when Santana had accidentally bumped her elbow into her face. The Latina had immediately dropped everything and cupped both of her cheeks with her hands to examine the damage.

It reminded her of when she had woken up at night after a bad dream and although she knew exactly Santana would slash anyone who had the courage to wake her before it was time to get up she had poked her awake. "San, San, wake up. San! I had a nightmare!" She had half expected her friend to just kick her out, but to her surprise she had turned around and opened her arms without a word, without even the lightest of frowns. With her face buried in Santana's shoulder and Santana's arms wrapped around her all bad thoughts had soon been forgotten.

That was what Rachel's tune reminded her of: Santana cupping her cheeks, Santana holding her tight, Santana placing a soft kiss on top of her head. It was a musical analogy for comfort and safety.

When the brunette removed her hand the pain had vanished and so had the scratches. Rachel repeated the procedure with her ankle and her face, which apparently had suffered some injuries from the impact earlier.

"Thanks."

Rachel's eyes smiled at her. It was hard to believe how anyone could ever hate this girl. She was so kind and considerate.

Looking around, the spellsinger asked: "Isn't it wonderful?"

Brittany turned her head and had to admit: It was. The bubble Rachel had summoned kept all hints of storm out. There were millions of grains of sand grazing the walls of their see-through shell. It was miraculous and threatening at the same time. Weirdly enough, Brittany started to feel slightly claustrophobic.

"The oxygen in here isn't going to last forever. We need a strategy."

Rachel was right. It would be impossible for them to fight under these conditions without a good plan at hand.

"Where's Quinn?"

But Rachel only shook her head.

"I don't know. Last time I saw her she was trying to clear a path for us. I can't even say what we're fighting. But", her eyes went dark "it's huge and extremely fast. Quinn wasn't able to land a single hit."


	5. Into the storm part 2

**A/N: **_I can't believe how much time passed since I updated this. I'm not going to list all my great excuses; instead I'll just hope you'll accept this chapter as an apology. I've made up my mind about the couples being featured and since Glee has started going down the drain rapidly I started falling for Faberry more and more. So Brittana and Faberry are going to be the main couples here._

* * *

><p>And suddenly she was alone.<p>

"Rachel? Britt?"

Nothing. Just a moment ago she head heard Rachel shriek. Now there was only the wind brushing past her ears, almost deafening her with its force.

Something hit the ground right next to Quinn and shook her bones, but before she could see anything it was gone again. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry out, but instead she pressed both her hands to her mask and suppressed every noise that had threatened to come out.

Cowering behind the rock she had jumped behind, Quinn couldn't help but wonder what her dad would have to say about her situation.

"Make me proud." had been his last words before she hopped on to the train that would take her to Balamb. "I won't disappoint you." she thought, waving her goodbyes through the window.

Being accepted to Balamb Garden was a huge honor, one that she wasn't going to take lightly. Most of the other students were sent here from one of the shelters. Quinn had never seen one of the districts herself, but everyone knew about them.

The war against Edea had cost many lives – too many to count – and lots of children had been left orphans as a result. Spira had become a ruthless place and even though witches didn't threaten the world anymore, their fight had opened a crack in Spira's lifestream, unleashing powers of unspeakable might. It was like Spira itself was fighting for its life against an unknown opponent as parts of this leaked energy started taking possession of creatures all over the world. Harmless animals turned into vicious monsters and suddenly no one was safe anymore. That's when the Gardens once more decided to jump in, as true defenders of humankind. But this time they played with open cards instead of hiding their true motive.

That's how the orphans came into play. Squall and his friends had turned out to be A+ soldier material and because everyone occupied with fighting for their own lives no one considered themselves responsible for these homeless children. So the Gardens took the opportunity to raise warriors once more. No one objected, no one interfered. Everyone was just glad their homes would be protected again, that someone was taking care of the threats this dark new world had to offer.

Quinn, however, was not one of those orphans. In her family it was a long standing tradition to join Balamb Garden and fight for Spira. But with the orphans being trained from early age on those acceptance letters had become extremely rare. Quinn considered herself very lucky to have made it and she had made it her goal to work harder than everyone else and become team leader instead of just another soldier. Of course there had been sacrifices to make. Apart from her brief chats with Puck and her – encounters – with Rachel (ones that she'd deny ever happened if asked) she hadn't made a single friend. There was no one she even talked to between classes or in her free time. She lived her life face down in books or in battles arenas. Most of the time it was completely worth it.

But now she was team leader, even if it was just to retrieve Rachel Berry's Guardian Force and not a real mission, and Quinn found herself hiding behind a rock.

Puck would be laughing if he could see her right now and Santana would surely take the opportunity to kick her ass. Being the best came at a high cost, she'd been taught that since the day she made her very first steps. "People come and go." her father would say "There are no friends, just competition."

She could practically hear her dad yell at her.

"I haven't raised you to duck behind a rock like a weak coward! You don't need a team. And you surely don't need that loser of a Spellsinger! You're a Fabray! Now get up and fight!"

"Well, dad." she thought. "Maybe you could tell me how exactly I'm supposed to fight an enemy I can't see?"

She knew she had to fight, but unfortunately she needed her team to win. Cid chose each cadet wisely, based on personal traits. If you were part of the Garden that meant you had an ability that made you unique. He also assembled the teams with great caution so their different combat techniques and specialties could be combined to a much more powerful force. And as much as Quinn hated the thought, Rachel's voice was special. She had never met a Spellsinger remotely as powerful as her before, even though the tiny brunette could be a true pain in the ass sometimes and needed protection against physical attacks.

Protection which neither Brittany nor Quinn could offer, especially right now.

Quinn could only hope the other two thirds of her team had been smart enough to take shelter somewhere.

Sand was cutting into her skin and made it hard to breathe and see. It seemed hopeless; it seemed like the Garden had sent her on a suicide mission. "That doesn't make sense." she mumbled to herself. This was supposed to be practice. The enemy was summoned by Cid himself to constitute a challenge, an obstacle so Rachel could prove she was worthy of her Guardian. The principal would never sacrifice his students – his best students – for nothing.

Shaking her head she tried to regain focus. "Screw that." she thought. "I'm still a Fabray and I'll graduate top of my class and a few grains of sand and a gust of wind won't hold me back." So she pushed herself up from behind her hiding spot. Of course her enemy was nowhere to be seen. This last thought finally triggered the idea that had been lingering in the back of her head for a while now to become a considerable option.

She knew she had exactly one shot.

So she pressed her feet to the ground and raised her hands, palms facing an invisible path in front of her.

"You want a storm? You got it." Quinn smirked as she focused all her energy into one single blow, unleashing a ball of concentrated air, which cut right through the sand, clearing her vision for a divine couple of seconds. Her fiend, unfortunately, remained hidden, but the moment had been enough to take a deep breath and make out a little opening to a cave nearby.

Smirking once more Quinn congratulated herself. She'd not be a failure after all.

A huge claw came seemingly out of nowhere and missed her head by inches before disappearing again and Quinn stood there stunned for a second, eyes wide despite the storm. This had been way too close. It was about time to run.

So she did.

She took off, one hand shielding her face, the other aimed heavenwards. "Guys, I hope you get this." she almost pled while firing thunderbolts into the sky. It was risky, sure, but it was the only way of communication she had right now. She had to try. A loud roar shook her from her thoughts and the giant claw appeared again for a split second. She dodged easily this time, never losing her course. The monster was following her, but at least it was just as blind as she was.

Finally she sent one last jolt up before jumping into the opening in the stone wall before her, ripping off her dust mask and coughing violently before inhaling sharply a couple of times.

She looked back and saw a furry foot pass by the entrance to her cave. It made her crawl deeper into the darkness. Quinn couldn't see how big this cave was, but for now it offered protection. It was a spot where she could recover and try to come up with a plan. Hopefully her teammates would join her soon.

"Quit pushing!"

Before Quinn was able to process those words she was tackled to the ground and her head hit the floor with a dull thud.

"Sorry." she heard Brittany say. "That was way too close."

When she opened her eyes she found Rachel lying on top of her, face to face. Dark eyes looked into hers just like they did during all these nights, which she was so desperately trying to forget. But Rachel held the stare and blushed and Quinn could only gasp.

Eventually Rachel cleared her throat and stood back up, much to Quinn's relief and dismay, and Quinn managed will to her eyes off the Spellsinger and look at Brittany instead.

"I agree." she stated, smoothing out her dress. "I have to admit that I don't have a plan other than gathering all of us here." She sighed in frustration. "Well, at least that worked."

* * *

><p>"Santana Lopez to the bridge immediately. I repeat: Santana Lopez to the bridge."<p>

"God damn it."

Yes, the Garden was shaking. Yes, it was kind of distracting. But she had JUST changed into casual clothes, for God's sake.

Putting away the item she had bought earlier Santana attempted to peel herself out of her jeans as fast as possible, but as a result only got stuck with one foot and fell face first against her bed. Tight clothes might compliment your figure, but they definitely have their downsides.

Boots, gunblade, brooch, go.

She was only half dressed with her belt hanging loosely from her waist and her jacket tugged under her arm when the intercom sent an embarrassing reminder through the halls:

"Santana Lopez to the bridge! Now!"

"I'm on my way. I'm on my way!" Santana yelled, despite the fact no one could hear her. Sometimes she wished for one of those fancy communicators they had on Star Trek. She could have bought herself some time. Instead she found herself stumbling through the hallway with her shoe laces whipping on the floor.

The clothes she could fix in the lift on her way up, her reputation had suffered nonetheless. An order was an order. You can't make the principal wait. Her only hope was that the emergency was bad enough to leave no time for long lectures and possible punishment.

She reached the elevator just as the doors were closing and jumped in on the very last second, right into a grinning Puck. "One word and you are dead Puckerman." She shot him an angry glare, but smirked just as quickly when she realized his sweater, which did absolutely not pass as Garden uniform, was inside out. "Let's just be gentlemen and turn around." He raised an eyebrow, but politely ignored her gender mix-up.

"There you are!" Cid yelled at them when the elevator doors opened.

Santana held her breath, waiting to be scolded, but nothing came. Instead they were rushed what she could only call complete chaos. There was the pilot shouting at his co-pilot, blinking lights and engineers everywhere, and there was Artie, who clutched both his hands on top of his head and – was he crying? It wasn't hard to guess the situation was urgent.

"We're under attack." Cid started his explanation.

When Santana shot Puck a glance she could see his brow was just as knitted as hers must have been.

"It's Galbadia Garden." the principal continued. "They've hit our engine and are currently sending troops our way. I've already sent out teams to our defense, but it's not enough to counter the attack. That's why I'm going to assign you to teams as well."

"Wait, does this mean…." But Puck's question was interrupted hastily.

"Yes, you're going to be team leaders. Congratulations."

"But I don't even have my G.F, yet!" Santana stated. "How am I supposed to compete with full trained soldiers?"

Cid waved her off. "Consider this your last test. You'll each receive your Guardian Force once we're safe again. I'd give them to you now, but unfortunately the arena doors are slammed and our mechanics need to find a way to restart our main computer. There's no time."

Santana furrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest. "Just great." She had worked for this her entire life and now another Garden delayed what she had earned. At least she was going to get a team of her own on a real mission before Quinn. That thought actually made her smirk. "Wait a minute!" she barked out when another thought crossed her mind.

"What do you mean, the arena doors are slammed?"

Puck gasped as the meaning of those words apparently started to dawn on him as well. "Oh shit." he whispered.

Cid rubbed his forehead, smoothing out some wrinkles and wiping away a few drops of sweat. "I'm afraid you two, Finn Hudson and Mike Chang are the only seniors available right now. Everyone else is trapped until our engines work again."

"OH DAMMIT!" Artie shouted as another device went up in flames.

"But Brittany is in there!" Santana shouted before remembering herself. "My apologies." she quickly added, lowering her head in a submissive gesture.

Puck placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and Santana huffed in mock annoyance. She definitely didn't care _that_ much.

"Puck, I've assigned Finn and Tina to your team. Santana, you'll take Mike."

"But sir!" Puck and Santana objected simultaneously.

"I know, Tina is a junior." Cid replied with a calm voice. "And a team of only two is uncommon, but I'm afraid there's no one else left."

It was Santana's turn to rub her forehead and she was sure she'd just started to grow wrinkles as well. Mike was an amazing dragoon, but she doubted they'd be able to do much without a G.F, especially when it was only the two of them and neither was very skilled with spells. Tina was a great archer, but she lacked of battle practice. At least Puck's team would have Finn to block physical damage, but again, none of them were trained at spells. For the first – and hopefully last – time ever Santana wished to have Quinn or even Rachel around.

* * *

><p>"So… what are we supposed to do now?"<p>

Rachel's question hung awkwardly in the darkness around them. No one knew an answer.

They had decided to get away from the entrance in order not to draw the fiend's attention to them as long as they were…contemplating.

"Can't you make a fire, Quinn?" Rachel asked and Quinn rolled her eyes. Of course no one could see that.

"It doesn't work that way. Am I supposed to click my fingers and leave my thumb burning or how do you think I'd do that? I have better idea. How about you use your bright ideas to light up the room instead?"

The moment she spat out the words she regretted them. Yes, Rachel was a pain in the ass, but she was still on her team and she was also sitting way too close to her right now and that was really distracting.

"Can you do that?" Brittany's voice echoed through the cave and Quinn swore she could see the hopeful twinkle in her eyes.

Quinn suppressed a giggle but Rachel only sighed and replied, calmly: "No, Britt. I can't." And then she did something that Quinn hadn't counted on: she took her hand and squeezed it.

Under any other circumstances Quinn would have raged. She would have pushed the dork away and insulted her before storming off. She would have made it clear that Rachel and her were not friends, not anything, in fact. Quinn had no use for other people, except as colleagues on the battle grounds.

But at this very moment, when they were surrounded by complete darkness, Rachel's hand on hers felt good. Maybe it was her instinct as a Spellsinger that gave her the ability to always know exactly what her teammates needed. She was, after all, a trained supporter. Maybe it was just the knowledge that no one could see them that made Rachel so bold.

In any case, Quinn's words had the opposite effect of her original intention.

And Rachel's gesture had the opposite effect of what Quinn had expected: It soothed her. Suddenly she could think again, even though there was still no wicked plan forming in her head; at least some of the pressure she had felt seemed to fall off. Her dad went silent.

"Fuck it." she thought to herself before reaching around and placing a shy (ugh) hand on Rachel's waist. Rachel scooted closer, returning the gesture, and thankfully keeping quiet. She was still a pain in the ass… most of the time. She was a distraction… most of the time. But right now Rachel provided Quinn with something no one else could have done: she gave her back her confidence.


End file.
